Oliver man to serve weekends for assault with a weapon

By Meaghan Archer

Delve will serve his time on weekends so he can raise his children and get his business off the ground.

(MEAGHAN ARCHER /InfoTel Multimedia)

November 10, 2014 - 4:29 PM

PENTICTON - An Oliver man who entered a home in Okanagan Falls and beat the residents with a crow bar because of an alleged sexual assault, will spend 90 days in jail every weekend until his 90 days are up.

Robert David Delve, born in 1979, pleaded guilty to one count of assault with a weapon after he was arrested in September 2012 along with his accomplice Michael Lillis, whose charges were dropped because of identification issues.

The charges stemmed from an incident two years ago when Delve was looking for a young man who allegedly sexually assaulted his daughter, who was 13 at the time. Delve heard the information from his daughter, and “it’s hard not to believe your daughter when she says something,” that serious, he said.

Delve, angered from the news, went to the man’s home twice and found him the second time, entered the house and beat him up. Delve had a crowbar and his accomplice had a hammer, which he used to hit a woman over the head. There were four victims of the assault, all whom were bleeding.

Delve, who appeared in Penticton Provincial Court Monday morning, said he’s turned his life around since the event, caring for his six children (four biological, two step-children) and starting his own business.

“I’m jumping the fence and taking a 180,” he said. “It would be devastating to my family that I would leave behind” if he were to receive a full jail sentence.

Judge Gale Sinclair asked if Delve’s weekends were free, and sentenced him to 90 days of jail to be served intermittently on weekends at the Oliver RCMP detachment. Delve will also serve one-year probation, which includes contact, firearms and weapons prohibitions.

To contact the reporter for this story, email Meaghan Archer at marcher@infotelnews.ca or call 250-488-3065. To contact the editor, email mjones@infotelnews.ca or call 250-718-2724.

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